St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced it has received European CE Mark approval for its ILUMIEN™ system, the first integrated diagnostic technology that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) technologies on one platform. The combined system offers physicians advanced physiological and anatomical insight to improve the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease.

The ILUMIEN system features the St. Jude Medical PressureWire™ Aeris, a wireless interventional tool that measures FFR to evaluate the severity of blood flow blockages in the coronary arteries, and the St. Jude Medical C7-XR™ OCT diagnostic imaging technology with Extreme Resolution™, a first-to-market intravascular imaging technology that allows physicians to visualize and measure important vessel characteristics otherwise not visible or difficult to assess with older intracoronary imaging technologies. Combined, the two technologies enable the optimization of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by assisting physicians in identifying culprit lesions responsible for ischemia (coronary narrowings responsible for significantly obstructing the flow of blood to a patients' heart muscle) and by providing physicians with precise measurements of lesion dimensions and vessel size and structure.

"The ILUMIEN system provides me and my colleagues with an easy-to-use, flexible solution that combines OCT and FFR technology on one system," said Dr. Evelyn Regar, M.D., Ph.D., FESC, Associate Professor, Department of Interventional Cardiology Thoraxcenter in Rotterdam, Netherlands. "Having these two cutting edge technologies together is a welcome advancement for therapy guidance, allowing me to choose the right tools for each patient situation."

Additionally, the St. Jude Medical ILUMIEN system features the Wi-Box™, a wireless device that enables the ILUMIEN system to receive data (aortic pressure readings) from the catheterization lab wirelessly. The Wi-Box allows physicians and staff a completely cable-free FFR solution, combining the ease of use of a built-in system with the cost efficiency of a mobile platform.

"Knowing which lesion to treat and how to treat it is the key to optimizing interventional treatment strategies," said Frank J. Callaghan, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiovascular Division. "We believe integrating these technologies is key to providing physicians a simplified, streamlined option for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with coronary artery disease."

The C7-XR System with the C7 Dragonfly™ Imaging Catheter and the PressureWire Aeris were launched in Europe in 2009.

About Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)

Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is an index determining the functional severity of narrowings in the coronary arteries as measured by PressureWire Certus and PressureWire Aeris. FFR specifically identifies which coronary narrowings are responsible for significantly obstructing the flow of blood to a patients' heart muscle (called ischemia), and it is used by the interventional cardiologist to direct coronary interventions and assess results for improved treatment outcomes.

Current data show that physiological assessment using FFR prior to placement of coronary stents helps physicians better optimize clinical outcomes by determining which specific lesion or lesions are responsible for a patient's ischemia. In January 2009, St. Jude Medical announced results from the landmark FAME (Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) vs. Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) study, a randomized, prospective, multi-center trial. The study enrolled 1,005 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease and compared outcomes for patients whose treatment was guided by FFR to those whose treatment was guided only by angiography. The 12-month results, published in the January 15, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that instances of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), such as death, myocardial infarction or repeat revascularization, were reduced by 30 percent for patients whose treatment was guided by FFR rather than by standard angiography alone.

About Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a leading imaging technology platform that aids physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. OCT utilizes near-infrared light to create images to visualize and measure important vessel characteristics otherwise not visible or difficult to assess with older intracoronary imaging technologies- such as fluoroscopy and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). OCT can be especially important for the assessment of stent placement because the high-resolution images show precisely how the stent is holding the artery open and whether it is positioned correctly against the artery wall, optimizing treatment and follow-up strategies.

Source:
St. Jude Medical